This birthday girl doll could be a big sister doll to the Bernat baby doll, or (and I think this is my preferred option) a older version of the baby doll! How fun would it be to make the baby as a baby gift, and then the birthday girl doll for baby’s 1st birthday?! When I was a kid, the few times I did play with dolls, I always wished they could grow up. Instead, my sister and I often played what we fondly called, “Crayon People.” We had broken crayons of call colors and sizes, all the way up to sharpened and unsharpened pencils, so, as our baby crayons grew, we could swap them out for the next larger size. How I wish I could have done that with my actual dolls!
Now, my daughter can, and she is so excited about this birthday girl doll, she’s hardly been able to keep her hands off her while I work on all the photography for the pattern! I always make it my goal to inspire creativity, and I think this one is a homerun! But you let your little one decide!
If you’re interested in a printer-friendly PDF of the birthday girl doll pattern, you can find the design in my Ravelry or Etsy shops! You can also purchase the Bernat Baby AND Birthday Girl patterns together, HERE. If you prefer to use the free blog copy below, I still appreciate you being here! And another great way to support my blog is simply by sharing! Thank you for supporting my business!
Notes: The birthday girl doll pattern is worked in continuous rnds from the bottom, up, with no joining. The arms, hair, dress, and hat are made separately. The hat can be sewn on, if you choose to have high pig tails, OR you can create a chain for the hat to wrap under the low pigtails for putting on and taking off. Gauge is not important, however, be sure that your sts are tight enough so that stuffing will stay inside the doll, and not show through. This yarn can be tricky to work with, so here are some tips: to be sure you’re not missing any sts, always count each rnd, until you’re more comfortable, and use a stitch marker. Because the yarn is so thick, the sts will be very close together, especially during the increasing rnds. Do NOT pull yarn too tightly while sewing or closing, because it can break. Pull gently. Pages 2-5 are printer friendly, with no pictures. Pages 6-7 contain pictures for more detailed instructions.
Finished doll with the hat on, measures approximately 14 inches tall. Width of the skirt should measure approximately 12 inches
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Materials:
Bernat Blanket Yarns in the colors of your choice! Good skin colors I’ve found are Almond, Sand, and Mink.
- Skin color – color A
- Onesie and hat color – color B
- Hair color – color C
- Dress and hat fringe – color D
- Ball top of hat – color E
Large yarn needle
Polyester Fiberfill
Scissors
Stitch marker
Terms and abbreviations to know:
magic ring
rnd, rnds – round, rounds
st, sts – stitch, stitches
sc – single crochet
hdc – half double crochet
RS – right side
inc – work 2 sts together into the same st
invsc2tog – invisible single crochet 2 together, this is essentially a decrease, but done in such a way as to make the continuous stitching smoother, and the decrease not as noticeable.
- Insert hook into front loop only of next stitch, DO NOT yarn over.
- Insert hook into front loop of second st.
- Yarn over. Pull through 2 loops.
- Yarn over and pull through last 2 loops.
Body, beginning with the feet in skin color – A, make 2
Begin with skin color, start with magic ring.
Rnd 1: 6 sc in magic ring; 6 sts
Rnd 2: inc in each st around; 12 sts
Rnd 3: sc in each st around; 12 sts
Pull B through to complete the last st of rnd 3. Fasten off your skin color and continue with color B, onesie color of choice.
Rnd 4: sc in each st around; 12 sts
Rnd 5: sc in next 10 sts, inc in each of the last 2 sts; 14 sts
Fasten off the first leg, but on the second leg, continue with connecting them together.
Body, in B *Stuff the doll as you go*
Rnd 6: still on the 2nd leg, sc in next 4 sts, 2 inc, sc in next 4 sts, leave last 4 sts unworked, connect to the 1st leg with a sc in the 1st st of rnd 5, sc in next 3 sts, 2 inc, sc in next 4 sts, leave last 4 sts unworked; 24 sts
Rnd 7: sc into the first st of rnd 6 (this leaves all 8 sts, 4 on each leg, on the inside of the leg unworked, they will be sewn closed later), sc in each st around; 24 sts
Rnds 8-12: sc in each st around; 24 sts * stop after rnd 8 to sew in between the legs, to close where the skipped sts are.
Rnd 13: (invsc2tog, sc in next 2 sts)6x; 18 sts
Rnd 14: sc in each st around; 18 sts
Rnd 15: (invsc2tog, sc in next st)6x; 12 sts
To complete the last st of rnd 15, pull through the skin color – A. Fasten off color B.
Rnd 16: inc in each st around; 24 sts
Rnd 17: (inc, sc in next 3 sts)6x; 30 sts
Rnds 18-21: sc in each st around; 30 sts
Rnd 22: (invsc2tog, sc in next 3 sts)6x; 24 sts
Rnd 23: (invsc2tog, sc in next 2 sts)6x; 18 sts
Stop here, and use worsted weight black yarn to sew on the eyes. The eyes cover over rnds 20, and are each the span of 4 sts, with 2 sts between them. Use an 8 inch piece of the skin color A to sew on the nose, by sewing over top of a st below and between the eyes, about rnd 19. *To center this, I actually pulled my needle through one half of one st, and the other half of the st next to it, creating the nose between the two sts.
Continue to finish head, stuffing as you go.
Rnd 24: (invsc2tog, sc in next st)6x; 12 sts
Rnd 25: invsc2tog 6x; 6 sts
Fasten off, and weave tail around the sts to close.
Arms, begin with skin color A, make 2
Begin with magic ring.
Rnd 1: 6 sc in magic ring; 6 sts
Rnd 2: (inc, sc in next st)3x; 9 sts
Rnd 3: sc in each st around; 9 sts
To complete last st of rnd 3, pull through color B. Fasten off skin color – A.
Rnd 4: (invsc2tog, sc in next st)3x; 6 sts
Rnds 5-6: sc in each st around; 6 sts
Fasten off, leaving a long tail for sewing, and sew to the side of the body, just under the head.
Hair, in C
Begin with magic ring.
Rnd 1: 6 sc in magic ring; 6 sts
Rnd 2: inc in each st around; 12 sts
Rnd 3: inc in each st around; 24 sts
Rnd 4: (inc, sc in next 3 sts)6x; 30 sts
Rnds 5-8: sc in each st around; 30 sts
At the end of rnd 8, sl st into the first st of the rnd, ch 1, and turn.
Row 1: sk sl st and 1st st, sc in next 2 sts, hdc in next 2 sts, sc in next 3 sts, sl st in next st, ch 1 and turn; 8 sts
Row 2: sk sl st and 1st st, sl st in next st, sc in next 2 sts, hdc in next 2 sts, sc in next 2 sts, sl st into the turning ch of the previous row, sl st back into rnd 8, and fasten off, leaving a long tail for sewing. Sew the hair onto the head with these rows 1 and 2 in the front, off to the side. Leave it short for short hair, or add the pigtails!
Pigtails, in C
Begin with a magic ring.
Rnd 1: 6 sc in magic ring; 6 sts
Rnd 2: (inc, sc in next st)3x; 9 sts
Rnd 3: (inc, sc in next 2 sts)3; 12 sts
Fasten off, leaving a long tail for sewing.
*OPTIONS: You can play around with the pigtails, make them bigger, smaller, sew them high, or low. Have fun with them! I sewed my pig tails low so that the hat string had something to wrap around.
Dress, in D *even rows are RS*
Ch 4
Row 1: turn and sc in 2nd ch from hook, sc in next 2 chs, ch 3; 3 sts, 3 chs
Row 2: turn and sl st into 3rd ch from hook, sc in BLO of next 3 sts; 4 sts
Row 3: ch 1 and turn, sc in FLO next 3 sts, ch 3; 3 sts, 3 chs
Rows 4-19: repeat rows 2 and 3
Row 20: repeat row 2, but do not turn
*NOTE: if your doll is stuffed thicker than mine, or the tension on the dress is tighter than mine, you may need to add rows to the width. Just be sure to always end with an even row, and center the bib portion of the dress with the same amount of stitches on each side.
Row 21: With right side facing, sc 26 across the top of the skirt, and fasten off, leaving a long tail for sewing.
Row 22: Reattach your yarn with a sc at the 10th st from the right of the skirt to begin the top of the dress, sc in next 7 sts, and leave the remaining 9 sts unworked.
Row 23: ch 1 and turn, dec, sc in next 4 sts, dec; 6 sts
Row 24: ch 1 and turn, dec, sc in next 2 sts, dec; 4 sts
Do not turn, but create the straps from here.
Ch 8 for one strap, and attach with a sl st to the last st of row 21 (back of the skirt), then attaching the open backs of the skirt, sl st into the 1st st of row 21, ch 8 again, and reattach with sl st to the 1st st of row 24 for the other side of the front of the dress.
Pull the dress up over the legs, the straps up over the arms, and sew the dress in place. First sewing the open back of the skirt together. Then sew around the waist of the skirt and up the top (bib) of the dress, and around the other side of the skirt.
Hat, using E, B, and D
Begin with E (white)
Begin with a magic ring.
Rnd 1: 6 sc in magic ring; 6 sts
Rnd 2: inc in each st around; 12 sts
Rnds 3-4: sc in each st around; 12 sts
Rnd 5: invsc2tog 6x; 6 sts
To complete last st of rnd 5, pull through your color B. Fasten off E, and simply stuff the ball with the loose ends, and even the trimmings from the doll. Once you’ve finished the hat, use one of your loose ends up here to sew to pom part closed off from the rest of the hat.
Continue with B.
Rnd 6: (inc, sc in next st)3x; 9 sts
Rnd 7: sc in each st around; 9 sts
Rnd 8: (inc, sc in next 2 sts)3x; 12 sts
Rnd 9: (inc, sc in next 3 sts)3x; 15 sts
Rnd 10: (inc, sc in next 4 sts)3x; 18 sts
Pull color D through to complete the last st of rnd 10. Fasten off color B.
Rnd 11: [(sc, hdc, sc) in next st, sl st in next st]9x
Join to first st with a sl st. If you want to sew the hat on, fasten off, and leave a long tail for sewing. If you’d like to have the hat come off, weave in all the ends inside the hat. Then continue with the last string by chaining 25. Join ch to a st on the opposite side of the hat, with a sl st. Fasten off, and weave in ends.
I hope you have enjoyed making birthday girl doll! If you love this design concept, be sure to check out some of my other Puffy Stuffies for animals, or the Bernat Baby Doll for the baby version of this pattern. If you loved making any of these patterns, and show them off on Instagram, please be sure to tag @ekaygdesigns to let me know, and I will share in my stories!
